Dalit families refused insurance scheme
Posted by samathain on November 13, 2009
Samatha
37 families have been thrown on the road because they wanted to register for medical insurance scheme. Police Sub Inspector who investigated the report is Transferred !!! District administration of Virudhunagar district of Tamil Nadu have not bothered to rehabilitate the suffering families. Police have actually registered FIR against the dalits !!! They have been rendered homeless due to criminal behavior of upper castes and the action of administration, police and the uncaring government makes us down our heads in shame. Why there is no outrage ? Why villagers of Veppankulam are allowed to treat fellow villagers like animals and slaves ? Why they have no respect for laws or humanity ? Why did the government support these anti-socials by transferring the police inspector who went to investigate the matter ? Aren’t there anybody in Veppankulam who does not feel outraged at the inhuman behavior of village strong men ? What are the good men and women of TN doing ? This is an insult to periyar, who wanted the dravidian land to be free from inhumanity of casteism. It is even worse that DMK, which is based on dravidian rights, is the government allowing this inhuman act by majority of a village with complete disregard for law and the rights OPENLY !!!!
Source : Times of India
Dalit families refused insurance scheme in TNPadmini Sivarajah, TNN 27 October 2009, 04:08am IST
MADURAI: Thirty-six dalit families in
a village in Virudhunagar district of Tamil Nadu say they have been ostracised
after they questioned their exclusion from the state governmentâ
Kalaignar medical insurance scheme for the poor.
Human rights
activists who visited T Veppankulam village in Tiruchuzhi block say the dalit
families were being discriminated against by not allowing them to register under
the scheme. The Peoples Union for Human Rights and other organisations went on a
fact-finding mission to the village. The team was told that when registrations
for the scheme began in the village on October 3, a Hindu in charge of the work
had ignored dalits standing in a long queue and registered only the names of
non-Dalits.
An argument over the exclusion degenerated into
violence, and many dalits were injured as they were beaten up by members of the
other caste. Dalits deserted the village immediately, fearing for their lives,
and now stay in a settlement at Kariapatti, about 14 km away from their village.
They are virtually living on the road, as there is shelter only for cooking and
for children to sleep, said advocate Rajani and A Marx of PUHR.
Home out of bounds
Source: Express Buzz
Home out of bounds to 37 Dalit families
Photo:Express
KARIAPATTI: For the members of 37 Dalit families, who fled T Veppankulam in Virudhunagar district on October 4 fearing violent reprisals from the dominant caste Hindus of their village and took refuge in Kariapatti, the future remains a big question mark as the district administration and police have turned a blind eye to their plight.The day before the Dalits left their homes, casteist tensions had run high at T Veppankulam when some Dalits waiting in queue with their families to get photographed for the Kalaignar Maruthuva Kaapeetu Thittam (state government’s medical insurance scheme) objected to some caste Hindus jumping the queue.The verbal exchange led to violence, when five Dalit men, including V Muniyandi, a daily wage labourer, were badly beaten. “As usual, they made casteist remarks against us and began to thrash us.” Muniyandi told Express.The terror did not stop there. Fearing that the Dalits would file an FIR against them, the caste Hindus surrounded their houses and refused to let them out. Those who had got into state transport buses were also forcibly made to step down.Sources said Mukkulam sub-inspector Ramaiah, who came to the village to enquire about the incident, also had to bear the brunt of upper caste fury. The man in khaki was reportedly let off only after he told them that he belonged to their caste. He was transferred the same night, the sources added.Muniyandi was again beaten up by a 40-member group with slippers and sticks when he tried to meet his wife Pappa at a nearby house. Around 6 pm, he managed to escape to Kariapatti, 20 km away, when his wife wrapped him in her sari and smuggled him into a bus.On October 4, some 37 Dalit families similarly made their way to Kariapatti, where they enjoy some protection from some Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) activists, in small groups with just the clothes on their back. They now stay in a makeshift shelter. “We have been reduced to begging for rice, pulses and vegetables and it is about 20 days since our children went to school,” they said.VCK councillor Iniyavan said the district administration and the police were not taking any steps for the rehabilitation of the families. “As is the practice, the police filed the first FIR against the Dalits and then filed one against the caste Hindus,” he added.The Dalit villagers said none of the district officials had bothered to visit them and enquire about their plight. The police too had not taken any action on the FIR filed against the caste Hindus.“As the upper caste people have served an ultimatum on us, it is impossible for us to return to our village,” they added.
Police Officer said
Root Cause: FEAR
There is NO social and economic FEAR among American Voters.
Hence Obama could become President of USA and Ambedkar could NOT become Prime Minister of India.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_mobility
Monthly Social Security Stipends + Licensed Pistols will drive away FEAR from Dalits and their leaders can become Prime Minister of India.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guaranteed_minimum_income
Samatha
If you go by the experience of african americans in US, who use guns rampantly, it was used to put huge number of black youths behind bars and to ghettoisation of african american areas. Drug dealers ruled the poor areas. FEAR among the residents and any body trying to do a good thing in these areas became the norm. As poor and powerless, dalits gain more by attaining moral high ground. Important thing is to expose injustice. Dalits would gain more by keeping doors open for anybody willing to improve life for them. Removing this element of FEAR is a must. Don’t go the route of naxals and fundamentalists. They are following paths of destruction and injustice. Victims need to fight for their cause in a just way. Otherwise, they would be victimising some body else and don’t deserve justice.
Think about how india won its freedom. Indian youth indulging in violence got treated like criminals. Whereas the political leaders fighting through non-violent means succeeded in turning a huge mass people of behind their cause. When liberals took over england, they couldn’t justify the brutal ways of the english officers in India. When they realised they were fighting resistance all over india, it was way too expensive. After suffering huge losses in second world war, maintaining an empire could not be justified when britain needed to focus on reconstruction.
Look at how things are turning out in today’s iraq. There are many who are trying to force US to leave iraq through violent means.Even if they succeed, they will have to live with the destruction left behind and it may be too costly with many innocent human lives lost. As long as they are using force, it becomes difficult for US force to pull out. It is easier justify occupation in the name of keeping peace.
Same US had to bow to pressure of Martin Luther King when he led the african americans to demand Civil rights using Gandhi’s non-violent ways !!!